


Guardian

by TheMalhamBird



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-08
Updated: 2016-12-08
Packaged: 2018-09-07 08:42:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8791048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMalhamBird/pseuds/TheMalhamBird
Summary: A look inside the mind of Arcturus Black III





	

**Author's Note:**

> Mainly this is me having fun with italics, but also playing around with a potential characterisation for some upcoming fic.

 

Arcturus Black III is not a darkwizard.

A _dark_ wizard is one who wishes to subjugate others. Arcturus has no wish to force the Wizarding World to bow to his will- to _persuade_ it to do as he chooses, yes, but only after overcoming serious opposition and only some of the time.

Otherwise, where is the amusement?

Arcturus Black III is _not_ a dark wizard. 

He is not cruel- at least, never intentionally so, never towards someone unable to defend themselves from cruelty. He does not hate muggles- if he thinks of them it is to pity them, for they will never know what it is to hold fire in the palm of their hands and not be burnt by it, they will never know what it is feel the rush of magic through their veins- but Arcturus does not think about them, not really. They inhabit a different world to him, a world which is of no importance or consequence to Arcturus- naturally he does not think of muggles. 

A bird does not think of fish. 

Charlus Potter can call him elitist all he likes.

And, Arcturus Black III supposes, he is a _little_ elitist. He does not think muggleborns have as much potential as purebloods, but that is only because he knows what can happen when generation upon generation of wizards exist in one family. 

A muggle born cannot call upon Family Magic, because they have no Family Magic. 

A Half Blood’s Family Magic will be weak because they only have one half pf a family to draw upon. 

No muggle born or half blood will ever be as strong as the head of the House of Black. 

That is not elitist

That is fact.

Maybe it is a little elitist. 

Arcturus has no wish to be a bigot, it’s such an ugly word. 

He can’t help the family he was born in to, or the views he was raised with. 

Can he?

Arcturus Black III is not a _Dark_ Wizard. 

He is a wizard, a powerful one, more powerful than most. He has an affinity for powerful spells, and powerful spells are being outlawed by the dozen by well meaning do-gooders afraid of power, or perhaps incapable of wielding it and so desperate to drag others down to their limitations. 

Arcturus is drawn towards spells that some- but by no means all- others shy away from. That doesn’t make him _dark._

_Arcturus_ Black is not a dark wizard. 

He admits that others in his family stray towards dubious areas, but that is none of his concern. He is _patrefamilias non custos carceris,_ head of the household, not warden of the jail. 

It is not his concern.

Arcturus Black is not a dark _wizard,_ but there are days when he thinks he is a terrible person: cold, calculating- incapable of loving or being loved. The mother of his children is really little more than a passing acquaintance, really, and his son and daughter- Arcturus does not know what he is supposed to do with a son and daughter, although he wishes he did, and he tries, he really does. Or at least- he attempted to try. Melania never seemed to welcome his presence in the nursery, so he…

What did he do with the years his children spent growing up?

_Arcturus Black is not a dark wizard._

Why can’t they see that? Why can’t they see that, don’t they _know_ what he did, don’t they know why he has the Order of Merlin First Class don’t they know he used the pedigree they all seem to hate so much to ingratiate himself with Grindlewald and _stop him?_ Don’t they know that if it weren’t for him, Albus Dumbledore would never have had the chance to duel his old friend? 

Of course they don't know that. They must never know that. They must never know what Arcturus Black did, although in the face of all the suspicion directed towards him anyway, it’s getting harder and harder for Arcturus to care about the consequences he would face as a spy for the light in the eyes of the dark and a collaborator with the dark in the eyes of the light-

 Arcturus Black isn’t a dark wizard. 

Dark Wizards don’t have grandchildren who are all grace and curiosity and humming with a contained energy and a magic that so closely mirrors Arcturus’ own- children are perceptive and quick to shy away from things that seem wrong, corrupted, things like dark magic- unless they are dark themselves- and how can Sirius, who burns so brightly and who likes to lie on the floor of Arcturus’ study drawing so carefully- how could Sirius Black possibly be a dark wizard? How could Arcturus be dark if Sirius loves him so?

Arcturus Black is _not a dark wizard._

Why can Sirius not see that disagreeing with the politics of the likes of Charlus Potter does not make one evil, it simply makes them a person with which one disagrees.

Why can Regulus not see that disagreeing with the politics of the likes of Charlus Potter does not mean one agrees with the politics of the likes of Walburga?

Arcturus Black is not-

Oh, forget it. Arcturus Black no longer cares about defining what he is or what he isn’t, he owes the world no explanation. Arcturus Black will happily stay in his family seat, away from the rest of the world , and stay there until he dies peacefully in his sleep, and he will be- if not happy, then-

_tired._  

  


  


ArcturusBlackisnotadarkwizardadarkwizardcouldneverfeelthismuchpainRegulusgreatCirceRegulushissecondborngrandsonwhatishappeningtoyouwhycanIfeelthisyou’reeighteenyearsofageyou’retoyoungforyourmagictobefadingintomine,intothefamilymagicIcanfeelyoudyingReguluswhathaveyoudone!

_  
_

_  
_

_  
_

_Arcturus Black_ is not a Dark Wizard.

_Voldemort_ is the Dark Wizard.

Voldemort, who has stolen the life of Arcturus’ grandchild.

Voldemort will pay for his audacity in harming a child of an Ancient and Noble Houses. 

  


Arcturus Black is not a dark Wizard. 

_But if the Ministry of Magic thinks it can incarcerate Sirius, his grandson, his_ heir _without having to fight for it’s life, then it can think again._

**  
**

Arcturus Black is not a Dark Wizard. 

  


That doesn’t make a Light One. 


End file.
